Latest news with #JamesCameron
Sydney Morning Herald
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Sydney Morning Herald
June will not be beach weather for Sydney. Here's what you should do instead
With wet weather constantly popping up on the daily forecast, there's no need to let it be a dampener on your social schedule. Sydney's arts and culture scene has plenty of hot-ticket indoor events that don't require gumboots, an umbrella or an impossible-to-refold rain poncho. Check out our guide to the best indoor music gigs, theatre shows, exhibitions, performances and festivals happening in June, all of which will keep spirits soaring even as the rain falls. Titanic. The Human Story Walsh Bay Arts Precinct Pier 2/3, until July 6 History buffs (or fans of James Cameron's 1997 romantic blockbuster) can get up close and personal with the tragedy of the Titanic at a month-long exhibition that has already toured the United States and Britain featuring 200 objects and personal artefacts from passengers and crew members. There is a detailed recreation of the ship's interior from first class to third class that visitors can walk through, while an audio guide lets listeners be completely encompassed by the stories of those who were onboard. Japanese Breakfast Sydney Opera House, June 3 There are still a few seats left to catch Japanese Breakfast, the musical project of songwriter Michelle Zauner, as the Grammy-nominated indie pop outfit hit town for a Vivid gig. The multi-talented Zauner also found massive success with her bestselling 2021 memoir, Crying In H Mart, but is now back focusing on music with the band's most recent album, For Melancholy Brunettes (& Sad Women), receiving rave reviews for a more mature sound when it dropped earlier this year. Sydney Film Festival Various locations, June 4-15 Cinephiles will be out in full force guzzling popcorn and bathing in the big-screen glow as the film festival takes over Sydney's movie theatres. The buzziest titles on this year's program include the Australian premieres for Ari Aster's straight-from-Cannes flick Eddington, with Joaquin Phoenix starring opposite Pedro Pascal, and Kelly Reichardt's art heist drama The Mastermind. But with more than 200 films from 70 countries on the timetable, there is plenty to choose from whatever one's taste. Illume Sydney Opera House, June 4-14 Bangarra Dance Theatre reveals the world premiere of its first visual arts collaboration as Mirning choreographer and Bangarra artistic director Frances Rings and Goolarrgon Bard visual artist Darrell Sibosado merge their creative forces for what should prove an enlightening alliance. The new work Illume explores how the life-sustaining phenomena of light has been woven into Indigenous cultural existence and how light pollution has disrupted that connection.
The Age
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- The Age
June will not be beach weather for Sydney. Here's what you should do instead
With wet weather constantly popping up on the daily forecast, there's no need to let it be a dampener on your social schedule. Sydney's arts and culture scene has plenty of hot-ticket indoor events that don't require gumboots, an umbrella or an impossible-to-refold rain poncho. Check out our guide to the best indoor music gigs, theatre shows, exhibitions, performances and festivals happening in June, all of which will keep spirits soaring even as the rain falls. Titanic. The Human Story Walsh Bay Arts Precinct Pier 2/3, until July 6 History buffs (or fans of James Cameron's 1997 romantic blockbuster) can get up close and personal with the tragedy of the Titanic at a month-long exhibition that has already toured the United States and Britain featuring 200 objects and personal artefacts from passengers and crew members. There is a detailed recreation of the ship's interior from first class to third class that visitors can walk through, while an audio guide lets listeners be completely encompassed by the stories of those who were onboard. Japanese Breakfast Sydney Opera House, June 3 There are still a few seats left to catch Japanese Breakfast, the musical project of songwriter Michelle Zauner, as the Grammy-nominated indie pop outfit hit town for a Vivid gig. The multi-talented Zauner also found massive success with her bestselling 2021 memoir, Crying In H Mart, but is now back focusing on music with the band's most recent album, For Melancholy Brunettes (& Sad Women), receiving rave reviews for a more mature sound when it dropped earlier this year. Sydney Film Festival Various locations, June 4-15 Cinephiles will be out in full force guzzling popcorn and bathing in the big-screen glow as the film festival takes over Sydney's movie theatres. The buzziest titles on this year's program include the Australian premieres for Ari Aster's straight-from-Cannes flick Eddington, with Joaquin Phoenix starring opposite Pedro Pascal, and Kelly Reichardt's art heist drama The Mastermind. But with more than 200 films from 70 countries on the timetable, there is plenty to choose from whatever one's taste. Illume Sydney Opera House, June 4-14 Bangarra Dance Theatre reveals the world premiere of its first visual arts collaboration as Mirning choreographer and Bangarra artistic director Frances Rings and Goolarrgon Bard visual artist Darrell Sibosado merge their creative forces for what should prove an enlightening alliance. The new work Illume explores how the life-sustaining phenomena of light has been woven into Indigenous cultural existence and how light pollution has disrupted that connection.
Khaleej Times
4 days ago
- Health
- Khaleej Times
Suzy Amis Cameron on new venture Inside Out and sustainability
Two-hundred-thousand gallons of water. Or, the carbon equivalent of driving from Los Angeles to New York. That's how much you'll save by swapping your protein-peppered meal with a plant-based one, explains Suzy Amis Cameron, former actress, model, advocate, and founder of the One Meal A Day movement. She's in Rome for the launch of a branch of Inside Out (IO), a collective that's working towards finding innovative solutions to some of earth's most pressing concerns. The Roman chapter is focused on IO's Fashion, Textiles and Home vertical, and hopes to clear the moult of the industry and replace it with a cleaner, more climate-friendly perspective, to make Rome a beacon of sustainable fashion. For 63-year-old Suzy, mum of five and wife of Avatar filmmaker James Cameron, it's almost like her entire life has been lived in preparation for this moment. Her childhood was spent on a farm in Oklahoma, US, riding horses and connecting with nature. 'Everything from being outdoors in nature to being in ballet classes when I was five years old, and then doing gymnastics and getting very, very involved in horseback riding,' she says, gave her the body awareness she needed to walk runways and be on screen. Which led her to becoming a global icon with an international platform. 'It's a journey of looking at the signs, paying attention to them, and learning from them.' Especially when one is in the spotlight. 'I'm fully aware of the fact that I've been handed a very charmed life, and I've had many, many opportunities... I do have a platform, and I'm really, really grateful… what wakes me up in the middle of the night is, 'what more can I do to make the world a better place for all of our children, and their children, and the generations that we will never meet?'' She recalls many aha moments over the years, times when she recognised the need for change in the world. One of those episodes came when she was pregnant with her first child, Jasper, with ex-husband actor Sam Robards. 'My sister-in-law at the time (30 years ago) took me to a health food store and started talking to me about organic produce,' she recalls. And with that conversation, other niggling concerns arose, about what lotions and potions one should use, what's safe for a baby to wear, what shampoo and soap is good for you — and which ones are pernicious. That was the first tectonic shift that pushed her to explore healthier options. Another came in 2012, when she saw the documentary Forks Over Knives, which posits that food is medicine — it can be healing if you eat right. The film, by Lee Fulkerson, had such an impact on the Camerons that the whole family embraced a plant-based lifestyle overnight. By 2018, she had written a book called OMD: The Simple, Plant-Based Program to Save Your Health, Save Your Waistline, and Save the Planet, decimating the most common argument against eating plant-based meals: how to make them as nutritionally dense and delicious as 'normal' food. She had sparked a movement she called OMD (one meal a day). And, by 2020, she had convinced American talk show host Oprah Winfrey to subscribe to the plan. 'If you've been thinking about going vegetarian or vegan, I think this is a good way to lean into it where you don't have to give up everything you've been eating your whole life in one day,' Winfrey told Oprah Magazine at the time. Benefits of a new menu 'Every meal is a chance to nourish our bodies, show care for our communities, and make a positive impact on the planet. OMD is about starting where you are, and embracing small, meaningful steps,' says Amis Cameron. She works on creating ripples in the status quo, lobbying small, well-informed tweaks that bring about lasting change. 'You can't make a change until you see and understand what the problem is, and the only way to find out what the problem is or the challenge is, is to have information and be educated.' Every meal is a chance to nourish our bodies, show care for our communities, and make a positive impact on the planet. OMD is about starting where you are, and embracing small, meaningful steps" When she began to educate others, she also started to learn more about the waste we generate — between 2.1 billion and 2.3 billion tonnes of municipal solid waste a year, according to United Nations Environment Programme — the damage it does, and the work that humanity must put in to secure the world. And so she learned about the toxins that spike our food and drink, and our clothes. The result was the 2024 documentary Let Them Be Naked, which was directed by designer Jeff Garner. It investigates the contamination of clothes and the resulting illnesses. While Garner has been spearheading the move towards sustainable fashion since 2002, he only started investigating the repercussions of synthetic toxins in daily wear in 2019 after his mum, Peggy Lynn Garner, passed away from cancer. For Suzy, the research made one thing clear: 'It's not enough [for brands] to swap fabrics or chase certifications. Real change begins with transparency — knowing your supply chain, protecting your workers, and doing the hard, human work of rethinking the system inside out. We'd love to see fashion companies lead with compassion — ensuring safe conditions, fair wages, and access to basic human rights like healthcare. From there, we can meaningfully tackle emissions, toxins, and waste.' 'In terms of household name designers that we know, we're currently consulting and working with many of them now,' she says. She has made inroads in championing low-impact fashion on the red carpets of celebrity-studded awards too. In 2009, she launched the red carpet green dress initiative, which calls for responsibility and sustainability solutions. At the time, some were reticent about partnering up. 'It's really in the zeitgeist right now,' she adds. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Suzy Amis Cameron (@suzyamiscameron) Current projects Her recent project, IO, takes on more than fashion; it works across six verticals: IO Science, Research, and Technology; IO Fashion, Textiles, and Home (IO FTH); IO Global Food Production (IO GFP); IO Education; IO Media; and IO Wellness. 'The one thing that really, really excites me about IO across all of the verticals is the partnerships that we've created with the leading universities [such as] MIT, Texas Tech, and Georgia Tech. We actually have solutions for remediating polyester and also remediating PFAs [perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances] out of soil, out of water,' she says over Zoom. The basis of the initiative, she explains, is: 'What you put in your body, how it affects your health, and how it affects the health of the planet. Which, in turn, affects not only the population of the human race but also every animal, every tree, every flower.' Of course, a good cause doesn't excuse poor brand performance. 'We have a fiduciary responsibility to our investors. We have three ROIs: return on investment, on impact, integrity,' she says. The former actress, whose reel credits include The Usual Suspects and Titanic, lives by her own rules, pointing out on the call that she's got organic raw vegetables waiting for her in her Roman hotel room. 'I live in New Zealand now and am very, very strategic about when I travel and where I go and the amount of things that I fit into whatever that trip is,' she adds. Other things she suggests people do are to buy less, revisit old outfits more, and common sense moves, such as taking public transport or carpooling. Actions speak loud If it weren't absolutely clear that Suzy is committed to her cause, you'd just need to follow the paper trail for proof. She has invested $65 million (Dh238 million) of her own money into IO and plans to raise another $300 million. 'For me, this mission is deeply personal — shaped by my own lived experience and a conviction that meaningful global change is not only possible, but necessary. The turning point came when I realised how much untapped potential exists at the intersection of sustainability, technology, and culture,' she explains. Change, while inevitable, is not an easy process — and when it comes to bettering the world, there must be a multi-pronged approach, says Suzy. 'Any sort of systemic change needs to be multi-pronged, so you're working with governments, policy makers, directly with the consumer, and the manufacturers.' And you must work with end-users; until demand changes, supply will not either. So, we must demand sustainable solutions. But what does that really mean? 'The word has been stretched so thin that it's often misunderstood. Many people believe they're making responsible choices, when, in fact, they may be unknowingly contributing to harm. That disconnect can be discouraging — but what keeps me hopeful is perspective. When I look back at where we started and how far we've come, the shift is undeniable. We still have a long journey ahead — one where we can't simply sustain the status quo — but I truly believe systemic change is within reach in our lifetime.' Just begin by swapping meat for vegetables and taking on the OMD challenge — there, you are already making the world a better place.
Miami Herald
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- Miami Herald
Inside Google's plan to have Hollywood make AI look less doomsday
For decades, Hollywood directors including Stanley Kubrick, James Cameron and Alex Garland have cast artificial intelligence as a villain that can turn into a killing machine. Even Steven Spielberg's relatively hopeful "A.I.: Artificial Intelligence" had a pessimistic edge to its vision of the future. Now Google - a leading developer in AI technology - wants to move the cultural conversations away from the technology as seen in "The Terminator," "2001: A Space Odyssey" and "Ex Machina." To do so, the tech giant is funding short films about AI that portray the technology in a less nightmarish light. The Google initiative, called "AI on Screen," is a partnership with Santa Monica, California-based Range Media Partners, a talent management and production company that represents a wide variety of entertainment clients, including actors and writers. Range is producing the films. So far, two short films have been greenlit through the project: One, titled "Sweetwater," tells the story of a man who visits his childhood home and discovers a hologram of his dead celebrity mother. Michael Keaton will direct and appear in the film, which was written by his son, Sean Douglas. It is the first project they are working on together. The other, "Lucid," examines a couple who want to escape their suffocating reality and risk everything on a device that allows them to share the same dream. "They were looking for stories that were not doomsday tales about AI, which I was fine with, because I think we've seen so many of those," Douglas told The Los Angeles Times. "It's nice to see the more - not overly positive - but sort of middle-ground stories." The effort comes at a time when many Americans have mixed feelings about AI. A 2024 survey from Bentley University and Gallup showed that 56% of Americans see AI as doing "equal amounts of harm and good," while 31% believe AI does "more harm than good." Shifting the way AI is depicted in popular culture could help shift those perceptions, or at least that's what some techies and AI enthusiasts hope. Google has much riding on convincing consumers that AI can be a force for good, or at least not evil. The hot space is increasingly crowded with startups and established players such as OpenAI, Anthropic, Apple and Facebook parent company Meta. The Google-funded shorts, which are 15 to 20 minutes long, aren't commercials for AI, per se. Rather, Google is looking to fund films that explore the intersection of humanity and technology, said Mira Lane, vice president of technology and society at Google. Google is not pushing their products in the movies, and the films are not made with AI, she added. "Narratives about technology in films are overwhelmingly characterized by a dystopian perspective," Lane said. "When we think about AI, there's so much nuance to consider, which is what this program is about. How might we tell more deeply human stories? What does it look like to coexist? What are some of those dilemmas that are going to come up?" Google did not disclose how much they are investing in the films. The company said it wants to fund many more movies, but it does not have a target number. Some of the shorts could eventually become full-length features, Google said. Creators who work with Google are given access to tech experts at the company who can share more information about the technology. Does the technology in the script already exist, for example? How would it work in real life? "We're living with this technology and AI - the questions arise include: How does it affect us and how can we emotionally connect via this type of technology?" said Rachel Douglas, a partner at Range, who is married to Sean Douglas. AI has been a controversial topic in Hollywood, playing a major part in the 2023 writers' and actors' strikes. Actors fear their likenesses and voices being replicated and manipulated without permission or payment. Writers worry their work is being used without their permission to create AI-generated scripts and story outlines. Animation and special effects jobs could be gutted. Publishers and record labels have sued to protect their intellectual property. Negative public perceptions about AI could put tech companies at a disadvantage when such cases go before juries of laypeople. That's one reason why firms are motivated to makeover AI's reputation. "There's an incredible amount of skepticism in the public world about what AI is and what AI will do in the future," said Sean Pak, an intellectual property lawyer at Quinn Emanuel, on a conference panel. "We, as an industry, have to do a better job of communicating the public benefits and explaining in simple, clear language what it is that we're doing and what it is that we're not doing." AI companies, including OpenAI, Google and Meta, have demoed or shared their tools with movie and TV studios and directors. Meta has partnered with horror studio Blumhouse and Cameron's venture Lightstorm Vision on AI-related initiatives. On Tuesday, Google announced a partnership with "The Whale" director Darren Aronofsky's venture Primordial Soup, which will work with three filmmakers on short films and give them access to Google's AI video generator Veo. Proponents say the tech can make filmmaking cheaper and give artists more flexibility at a time when the movie business is struggling. "If we want to continue to see the kinds of movies that I've always loved and that I like to make and that I will go to see ... we got to figure out how to cut the cost of that in half," Cameron said on a podcast last month with Meta's chief technology officer. Cameron sits on the board of startup Stability AI. AI companies are finding other creative ways to make the technology more approachable. In one example, major artificial intelligence firm Anthropic is sponsoring an upcoming exhibit at the Exploratorium, a science and art museum in San Francisco. Eric Dimond, senior director of exhibits, said he hopes the exhibit, called "Adventures in AI," will cause more people to explore the costs and benefits of AI. Anthropic was not involved in the conceptualization of the exhibit, Dimond said, though visitors can interact with its AI model Claude, as well as AI tools from OpenAI and ElevenLabs. As Google and others try to put a softer focus around technology, moviegoers are still getting plenty of stories about the dangers of robots run amok. Recent tales of AI gone wrong include Blumhouse's 2023 horror film "M3GAN," about a robot who becomes so protective of a young girl that she starts wreaking havoc. Last year, another Blumhouse horror film, "Afraid," followed a family terrorized by an AI-powered assistant. This summer, "M3GAN" is getting a sequel, released in theaters by Universal Pictures. It's expected to be a box office hit. Copyright (C) 2025, Tribune Content Agency, LLC. Portions copyrighted by the respective providers.
Daily Mail
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Disney is evading cruelty laws and showing rat drowning scene in film, animal charity claims
Disney has come under fire from animal welfare campaigners for showing a disturbing scene in a classic sci-fi film which features a real rat being forcibly submerged in liquid. The RSPCA has slammed the streaming giant for broadcasting the infamous scene in The Abyss – James Cameron 's 1989 underwater thriller – in which a live rodent is seen struggling as it is dunked into a tank of fluorocarbon liquid. The distressing footage had previously been cut from all UK screenings by the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC), which ruled it breached animal cruelty laws. But now the controversial clip is available in full on Disney+, sparking outrage from Britain's biggest animal charity. David Bowles, the RSPCA's head of public affairs, said: 'The RSPCA is really concerned that a loophole currently exists allowing animal abuse scenes deemed unacceptable elsewhere to be streamed freely and legally into our homes. 'The Abyss' controversial rat scene has long concerned the RSPCA, and has always been deemed unacceptable by BBFC – so it's hard to fathom out why Disney+ has decided to broadcast it. 'We need to ensure people are not being exposed to content which promotes or showcases cruelty to animals. 'As the way millions of households consume entertainment changes, it's vital the legal framework is responsive to that and continues to consistently protect people and animals.' Despite the fact that the rats used in the film reportedly survived the ordeal, the BBFC has consistently ruled the scene must be cut for all cinema releases, DVDs and traditional TV broadcasts. The decision was made under the Cinematograph Films (Animals) Act 1937 and the Video Recordings Act 1984. UK TV channels are also forbidden from showing the scene under Ofcom's Broadcasting Code, which prohibits airing any material that has been cut or refused classification by the BBFC. But streaming platforms like Disney+ are not held to the same standards and the RSPCA has warned that this creates a dangerous 'loophole' where distressing animal abuse can still be shown. Mr Bowles added: 'We hope a new code of conduct under the Media Act will help close this loophole – but we need to see a degree of consistency between streaming platforms and other forms of more traditional entertainment, so people can have confidence when watching films and other shows. 'It doesn't make sense that we have robust safeguards for animal-related content shown in cinemas, on DVDs or on traditional television channels – yet those protections could go out the window when you turn on a major streaming service. 'We can't backtrack now on what society deems is acceptable in terms of how we treat animals.' A new law, the Media Act, is expected to tighten regulation of video-on-demand services like Disney+ under Ofcom and the RSPCA hopes it will bring greater consistency to how animal cruelty is policed across all viewing platforms. The BBFC has already worked with many streaming services on a voluntary basis to help keep content standards in line – and the RSPCA says it hopes Ofcom will encourage more services to follow this example.
